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virtual inspections

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e hilton said:
They were told if they were going to sit home and makes sales calls, they should completely dress above the waist and do full makeup and hair etc, so when they were looking in the mirror on the desk and talking to the customer they saw themselves in a professional image.
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So I shouldn't be wearing my "Stones shirt", interesting:cool:
 
I have been doing virtual inspections for a week. Not that bad but it takes plenty of time.
 
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CDA, great info for those who have not begun the remote inspections and closing with the (wave, thumbs up or shaka motions).

Even in these trying times we need to remember the importance of providing good customer service. Three weeks into this virtual world, the inspections are pretty easy on the majority of occupancies we cover.

Our team has agreed to use our authority (if necessary) to conclude or suspend inspections when we encounter situations on equipment clarity or just feel a physical inspection is warranted due to the hazardous nature of an operation. In that event we just have to wait until this is over to get back to it.

We still have to remember that we have no control over facility, operations or personnel in hazardous areas or facilities when we sign off.

The nice thing in all this, I only have to shave on inspection(s) days and yard work is almost done........be safe all.
 
FM William Burns said:
The nice thing in all this, I only have to shave on inspection(s) days
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I actually didn't feel the need to shave, then was asked: "Are you going to shave?" Yes, I'm gonna shave today!

Those guys on the Hallmark channel can get away with a "two" or "three" no shave day, I for one can't pull that off!

Happy inspecting!
 
We are doing them for limited, simple homeowner permits like water heaters, HVAC installs, basement finishes. We haven't figured out the electrical final yet as far as I know, I think we are just deferring those until inspectors can go back in the house. Seem to be working well. We use whatever program is available; skype, whatsapp, I-phone (not sure what its called).
 
The inspection was for a water heater replacement. Contractors are never present for water heater inspections. The owner answered the phone. I introduced myself and asked him if he was capable of facilitating a virtual inspection. He said yes but he has never done anything similar to that. He has an Android phone so ten minutes later we almost had Zoom installed on his Pixel phone. Almost isn’t good enough so I decided that pictures would have to be the answer. Ten minutes later he was almost able to take a picture and send it to my email.

Ten minutes is a long time to spend inspecting a water heater.....three is sufficient. Years ago a boy about six years old answered the door. I asked if his parents were home and he said his mother was and then he shut the door. After a long five minutes I rang the door bell and the kid opened the door. I asked about his mother and he said, “She’s in the bathroom putting on her makeup and she ain’t coming out until she’s done.”

Back to the virtual water heater inspection. Three hours later a stream of twenty-two emails landed in my inbox. I answered with a request for more....several times. Twenty-eight did the trick.

I heard from an inspector that spent near three hours inspecting an ADU for a final. There were over twenty corrections and he wasn’t done.
 
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fatboy said:
There are several platforms for androids also.........
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Like Ice explains in the next post, android and iphone can do it with zoom, but it needs to be set up as a conference call. Two iphones can instantly do facetime.
 
Lots of ways to skin that cat, some very simple...even with android, but all of them require some level of competent interaction on the other end. These are trying times, and I applaud those AHJ's that are at least trying this. If the homeowner can't get it done then they should get the contractor to do it. If the contractor can't get it done then they wait out the apocalypse.
 
Sifu said:
If the homeowner can't get it done then they should get the contractor to do it.
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Good point. Why not require the contractor to be present for the video inspection. After the first one or two, their skill level would be up, making them go better. And if you asked for a specific view of the work, they would understand what you were asking for.
 
I just talked to our inspections manager. He said 90% are facetime. The rest have mostly been google duo. They start at the front door with permit and address, then walk to the inspection and/or plans as needed. I seem to remember a few AHJ's that were already doing this, San Bernardino CA comes to mind. They were doing it for geographic distancing, not social distancing. I think if this is successful it could carry on to some extent after the apocalypse. JUST LIKE ME WORKING FROM HOME!
 
I had four today. A roof sheathing that went fine. Next was a el service upgrade and solar. The solar had not been commenced so it became just the panel. It took an hour when an in-person inspection would likely take ten minutes to write the corrections and twenty minutes to explain the corrections. The newly installed sub-panel had no permit and was mounted over a hole in the exterior wall with NM exiting the back. The feeder for the panel was in a raceway traversing the roof. 2" above the roof, 1/0 aluminum wire on a 100 amp circuit. Swimming pool with no GFCI protection for the equipment. So you see there were run off the mill corrections, those and more which I can blast through when I am standing there but it takes a lot longer through a phone on his end.

The next two didn't happen because the contact person did not have Zoom or an iPhone or simply wasn't onsite.....that after I called him at 7:30 AM and told him I would do the inspection at 11:00AM.

Forty-five minutes worth of work took three hours.
 
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You can also have multiple people in FaceTime using the add + person feature. The biggest problems are connectivity lagging. Someone (typically the inspector) needs to direct the customer through the inspection and tell them when to stop, move camera left/right and hold still when you try to take a snapshot. If it’s a household have the parent get a 10 year or older child or teenager for assistance ;)
 
I have the caveat in my web posting about virtual that the inspector has the right to suspend the inspection at any point in time. I would expect my guys to pull the plug at 30 mins max.
 
fatboy said:
to pull the plug at 30 mins max.
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So i have two conflicting thoughts on that. 1. In 30 min Ice is just getting warmed up. 2. In 3 min Ice has done a complete visual inspection and is formulating his rejection card quoting chapter and verse, and sarcastic comments.
 
MtnArch said:
I wouldn't characterize Ice's comments as "sarcastic."

"Snarky" does come to mind, though!

;-)
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You guys....you guys.....If only you knew how much I hold back.

I am starting to appreciate virtual inspections. We have a committee that was formed to point us in the right direction for conducting virtual inspections.
We also have a committee that was formed to decide if we should get saddles for the horses. I think that they meet in secret because not many people know about that....actually it's only the people that I tell but they all shake their head in agreement.

Where I used to be done with ten inspections by one o'clock, four virtual inspections might run until noon. It starts with a call between 7 and 8 am. I get an email address and send them a guide explaining the need to help with this. They are half of the process so I need them to be somewhat educated.

From how to hold a camera phone to noise control, it’s there. The guide outlines a request for a group of pictures that are tailored to the work at hand. I ask them to send me the pictures beforehand. That way I can get much of the legwork out of the way.

I can see where the temperature/pressure relief valve terminates and I don't have to ask someone on their end to find it during a virtual inspection. Much of every inspection involves taking me there and show me .... pictures give me a quiet, uninterrupted moment to see clearly.

I can respond with a great deal of information. This picture is an example. The inspection was for a tankless water heater. The owner handled the inspection and he pointed out that the contractor installed a sediment trap. He was ever so slightly incredulous....like he was asking me if it was required. Well not really....yes I know that it is in the code but the gas company is blase about it and it goes either way...but anyway it is done wrong....just about as wrong as it can be. Now if I were there I would be explaining.....and explaining some more......but since I am not there I sent him pictures of what it should look like.



I have made guides for about eight types of project from solar to rewires. I am working on more. I guess I am a committee of one. Well I do have another inspector that uses the guides. They work great for some jobs and roofers love it but some people will not be able to help. And some inspectors will not be able to help.....that's just the way it is.

We do not give the applicant a guide for Virtual Inspections when they obtain a permit. We don't even tell them that they might get a virtual inspection. Many inspectors are doing physical inspections. We are waiting on the committee and I get the feeling that the committee is going to kill virtual inspections. That’s why I went my own way. I was thrust into virtual inspections and want it to succeed for as long as I am doing it. And I am selfish.

If we did give the applicant a guide they would not be surprised when I call them with the news. They wouldn't be telling me that they don't have the ZOOM app loaded in their phone. When they finally succeed in loading ZOOM I wouldn't have to teach them how to use it. The dogs would be put away...saws and nailguns would stop...somebody that is familiar with construction and this particular job will be onsite...I don't always get the last one and depending on how bad it's going, the inspection might not take place.

Well that's the way it was at the beginning. Now I send them instructions and tell them to stand by after they send the first batch of pictures. I don't spend anymore time with them than I need. I have plans on a big screen. It is so much nicer and I didn't sit in a truck for three hours today. I have worn out three new pickups...the latest one is the last one.

We require smoke and CO alarms with every permit. No matter what you did, you will have them. That has been a huge pain because contractors ignore the requirement and when we try to final a permit we are stuck with the owner explaining the law. We have to make another (or three more) trip for the alarms. Not anymore. It is right there in the guide. It takes a video starting from the street....well here I'll show you...

Smoke and CO Alarm Video
Start the video from the street. Find the smoke and CO alarm in the hallway and any room with a door to a bedroom. Proceed to each bedroom and show the smoke alarm. Smoke and CO alarms are required on every level. Show the interior of bedrooms to determine if there is a fireplace or fuel fired appliance such as a wall furnace, both of which require a CO alarm in that bedroom.

If that video isn't with the original batch of pictures.... sorry about that but it was clear when it said no video no inspection. There! solved a huge problem....of course I don't get to go on roofs and that was a favorite for me....and hardly any pictures for the forum.....but this too shall pass and I won't have to do any of it soon enough.


I would like to add that in three months I haven’t had more than a few failures and nobody has complained. The lack of complaints might be a result of the coronavirus and people not wanting visitors but many people have been enthusiastic.
 
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One of the comments that I have heard from our VRI committee is that we can't do a thorough inspection and we will miss too much. The following list is from an inspection that I performed today. The inspection that was requested was for Framing and meps. I haven't created a VRI guide for this type of inspection (yet) so it was somewhat herky jerky. It was done with face time and the video was blurry and the signal was poor. The connection dropped four times. I was tempted to call it off but didn't. At the next inspection I will request a ZOOM video and hope that it is clear.

I may have missed some corrections....I am sure that I missed corrections....that happens whether I am there in person or not. Had the meps work been completed the correction list would have been twice as long.

The contractor didn't have a tape measure so I had to pretty much eyeball everything. The kicker is that had I been doing an in person inspection I( probably would have cut it off at a dozen corrections....or not done it at all considering how much wasn't ready.

The job is a 1200 sq.ft. detached ADU.

  1. The shear wall that is designated #2 has not been constructed per plan. The bottom plate and framing with edge nailing shall be 3"X.
  2. The anchor bolts at a #2 shear wall shall be spaced at a maximum, 24" apart.
  3. Provide a special inspection report for the shear wall that is designated as a #2.
  4. The electrical service panel has been let into a shear wall segment. Relocate the panel or provide an engineered fix.
  5. Detail #3 specifies a Simpson CB44 at the base of support posts at four locations. The CB44 has been replaced with HD hardware. Provide an engineered detail for the substitution. Provide a special inspection report for the all-thread that was installed for the HD hardware.
  6. The bottom plate has been interrupted where an underground feeder conduit enters the building. Place anchor bolts on both side within 12" and no closer than 5".
  7. Place anchor bolts at exterior walls within 12" and no closer than 5" from sill ends.
  8. Detail #18 depicts the confluence of a 4"X ridge, 4"X hip and a 4"X valley with 4 5/8" lag bolts. That has not been done.
  9. Detail #6 depicts H2.5 hardware on each side of the rafters as they cross over the wall top plate. That has not been done.
  10. Detail #7 depicts the outriggers laying on top of the gable wall top plate rather than let in. The first rafter is supposed to be doubled. That was not done.
  11. Detail #17 depicts 10 16d nails on each side of top plate splices. That has not been done.
  12. Seal top plate penetrations with an approved fireblock material.
  13. Protect plumbing as it passes through framing with metal plates that extend a minimum 1.5" past each side of the pipe.
  14. Install the windows for a framing inspection.
  15. Install an exterior 120 volt receptacle outlet at the front and rear of the building
  16. AFCI shall be required per the CEC.
  17. GFCI shall be required per the CEC.
  18. The trench for the feeder conduit that has undermined the existing house footing shall be filled with flow-able fill (slurry).
  19. The plumbing, mechanical and electrical work has not been completed Ie. The water heater is not installed, five proposed mini-splits have not been installed, bathroom fans are not installed, much electrical work has not been completed.
  20. Provide a structural observation report.
  21. Provide a copy of the job card.
Thanks,
Tiger
 
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